1940 in Wales

Centuries:	18th; 19th; 20th; 21st;
Decades:	1920s; 1930s; 1940s; 1950s; 1960s;
See also:	List of years in Wales; 1940 in The United Kingdom Scotland

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1940 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

Archbishop of Wales – Charles Green, Bishop of Bangor[1]
Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Crwys

Events

21 January - Lowest ever temperature recorded in Wales, -23.3 °C (-9.9 °F) at Rhayader.[2]
27 January - A freak ice storm across the UK brings down telephone and electricity lines in many parts of Wales.[3]
3 March - The steamer Cato is damaged by a mine off Nash Point and 13 of the crew are killed.[4]
March - The scenic railway opens at Barry Island Pleasure Park.
May
- The newly created Coalition Government includes Hugh Dalton as Minister of Economic Warfare.[5]
- Alun Lewis enlists.
8 May - Three Nazi German Luftwaffe Heinkel 111s crash in separate incidents over Wales: one near Wrexham, one at Malpas in Denbighshire, and one at Bagillt, Flint. In all nine crew are killed and four captured.
3 July - Cardiff is bombed for the first time.
9 July - Cardiff suffers its first bombing fatalities.[6]
10 July - Ten people are killed in an air raid on Swansea Docks, as shipping convoys become a target.[7]
11 July - Communist minister and poet Thomas Evan Nicholas ("Niclas y Glais") and his son are arrested and interned for "endeavouring to impede recruitment to HM Forces". Nicholas is eventually released on 20 October.[8]
11 August - Seventeen people are killed in an air raid on Manselton, Swansea.
14 August - Three German Heinkel 111s are shot down during an air-raid on Cardiff, and another over North Wales after a raid on RAF Hawarden.
22 August - A steamer, the Thorold, is sunk by German aircraft off the Skerries. Ten crew are killed.
2 September - 33 people are killed in an air raid on Swansea.
3 September - Eleven people are killed in an air raid on Cardiff.
4 September - A German Junkers 88 crashes near Machynlleth. Four crew and a Gestapo officer are captured.
13 September - A German Heinkel 111 crashes into a house in Newport, Monmouthshire.
22 November - The steamer Pikepool is damaged by a mine off Linney Head, Pembrokeshire, with the loss of 17 crew.
The Urdd changes its policy to include 16- to 25-year-olds.
Gwilym Williams becomes chaplain of St David's College, Lampeter.
Percy Cudlipp becomes editor of the Daily Herald.
Alun Talfan Davies and his brother Aneirin found the publishing house Llyfrau'r Dryw.

Arts and literature

Lewis Casson directs John Gielgud in King Lear.

Awards

National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Bangor (radio))
National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - withheld
National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - T. Rowland Hughes
National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - withheld

New books

Richard Bennett - Cyfrol Goffa Richard Bennett
Clara Novello Davies - The Life I Have Loved
David Delta Edwards - Rhedeg ar ôl y Cysgodion
John Cowper Powys - Owen Glendower (U.S. publication)
Howard Spring - Fame is the Spur
Ransom Riggs - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (published 2011; partially set in Wales, 1940)

Music

Mai Jones & Lyn Joshua - "We'll Keep a Welcome" (performed for the first time in the forces' variety show, Welsh Rarebit on 29 February)
Grace Williams - Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes (score dated 9 February)

Film

March 25 - Plaza Cinema opens in Port Talbot.[9]
April 6 - Paul Robeson and Rachel Thomas star in The Proud Valley (cinematic release)

Broadcasting

25 February - The Proud Valley is the first film to have its première on radio, when the BBC broadcasts a 60-minute version.[10]
May - The BBC Radio Variety Department relocates to Bangor because of wartime disruption; it will broadcast from here until August 1943.[11]
August - The National Eisteddfod of Wales is broadcast on the British Home Service, including 15 minutes each for the crown and chair ceremonies.[12]

Sport

Football
- 13 April - Wales defeat England 1 - 0.
Quoits - Jack Price wins the Welsh championship for the third time.

Births

4 January - Brian Josephson, theoretical physicist[13]
17 January - Leighton Rees, darts champion (died 2003)[14]
23 January - Ted Rowlands, politician
1 March - David Broome, show jumping champion[15]
16 May - Sir Gareth Roberts, physicist (died 2007)
7 June - Tom Jones, singer[16]
29 June - John Dawes, rugby player (died 2021)[17]
17 July - C. W. Nicol, Japanese writer and environmentalist (died 2020 in Japan)
3 September - Eduardo Hughes Galeano, Uruguayan writer of Welsh descent
20 September - Anna Pavord, gardening writer
1 October - Atarah Ben-Tovim, flautist and children's concert promoter (died 2022)[18]
14 October - Christopher Timothy, actor[19]
31 October - Eric Griffiths, skiffle guitarist with The Quarrymen (died 2005)
4 November - Daniel Sperber, Talmudic scholar[20]
30 November - Peter Shreeves, footballer, coach and manager
5 December
- Michael Jones, medieval historian
- "Exotic" Adrian Street, professional wrestler (died 2023)
24 December - John Marek, politician
date unknown
- Donald Evans, Welsh-language poet[21]
- Keith Miles, detective novelist and screenwriter

Deaths

12 February - William Edwards, educationist, 89[22]
21 February - Sir Alfred Edward Lewis, banker, 71[23]
15 March - John Davies, author, 71
20 March - William Thomas Edwards (Gwilym Deudraeth), poet
7 April - Ernest Rowland, priest and Wales international rugby player, 75
27 April - Fred Cornish, Wales international rugby player
23 May - Hugh Hesketh Hughes, polo player, 37 (killed in action)[24]
4 June - Owen Picton Davies, businessman and politician, 68
25 June - Stanley Winmill, Wales international rugby union player, 51
3 July - George Bevan Bowen, landowner, 82[25][26]
8 August - Daniel Lleufer Thomas, lawyer and biographer, 76[27]
20 August - Henry Maldwyn Hughes, Wesleyan minister
26 September - W. H. Davies, poet and author, 69[28]
9 October - Sir Wilfred Grenfell, medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador
9 November - Gwilym Owen, physicist
15 December
- Robert Thomas Jones, quarrymen's leader, 66[29]
- Sir David Richard Llewellyn, 1st Baronet, industrialist

References

C. J. Litzenberger; Eileen Groth Lyon (2006). The Human Tradition in Modern Britain. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-7425-3735-4.
Simons, Paul (2008). Since Records Began. London: Collins. pp. 205–7. ISBN 978-0-00-728463-4.
Stephen Moss (26 January 2018). "Weatherwatch: 1940 Ice Storm added to misery of war". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
"Porthcawl's Guinness shipwreck remembered". BBC News Wales. 19 September 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
Sheila Lawlor (12 May 1994). Churchill and the Politics of War, 1940-1941. Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-521-46685-1.
Edwin Webb; John B. Duncan (1990). Blitz Over Britain. Spellmount. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-946771-89-9.
Julitta Rydlewska; Barbara Braid (18 September 2014). Unity in Diversity, Volume 1: Cultural Paradigm and Personal Identity. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-4438-6729-0.
"Thomas Evan Nicholas 1879-1971" (PDF). National Library of Wales. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
"Plaza Cinema, Talbot Road, Port Talbot". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
Stephen Bourne (30 November 2001). Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television Second Edition. A&C Black. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-8264-5539-0.
British Broadcasting Corporation (1944). BBC Handbook. p. 50.
"Literature Wales: Encyclopedia - Broadcasting". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-01-05.
"Brian D. Josephson Biographical". The Nobel Prize. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
"Leighton Rees". The Telegraph. 10 June 2003. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
Julia Longland (1 October 1978). Clear round!: Interviews. Mayflower Books. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-8317-0012-6.
Eggar, Robin. Tom Jones – The Biography. p. 14.
John Dawes rugby profile ESPN Scrum.com
June Emerson (7 November 2022). "Atarah Ben-Tovim obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
In Bala, Gwynedd. Screen International Film and TV Year Book. Screen International, King Publications Limited. 1990. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-900925-21-4.
"Daniel Sperber". Bar-Ilan University. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
Donald Evans (16 December 1991). Rhydwen Williams. University of Wales Press. p. 83.
Edgar William Jones. "Edwards, William (1851-1940), H.M. inspector of schools". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
Edward Morgan Humphreys. "Lewis, Sir Alfred (Edward) (1868-1940), banker". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
"Hugh Hesketh Hughes". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 11 April 2011. Regiment/Service: Welsh Guards Date of Death: 23/05/1940 Service No: 103800 Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
‘BOWEN, Sir George Bevan’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 30 Nov 2013
Obituaries (Obituaries) The Times Friday, Jul 05, 1940; pg. 7; Issue 48660; col E
David Williams. "Thomas, Sir Daniel Lleufer (1863-1940), stipendiary magistrate". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
Lawrence Normand (1 September 2003). W.H. Davies. Seren. p. 152. ISBN 978-1-85411-261-3.
David Thomas. "Jones, Robert Thomas (1874-1940), Labour leader". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 9 November 2019.

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[1] C. J. Litzenberger; Eileen Groth Lyon (2006). The Human Tradition in Modern Britain. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-7425-3735-4.

[2] Simons, Paul (2008). Since Records Began. London: Collins. pp. 205–7. ISBN 978-0-00-728463-4.

[3] Stephen Moss (26 January 2018). "Weatherwatch: 1940 Ice Storm added to misery of war". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 April 2019.

[4] "Porthcawl's Guinness shipwreck remembered". BBC News Wales. 19 September 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2019.

[5] Sheila Lawlor (12 May 1994). Churchill and the Politics of War, 1940-1941. Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-521-46685-1.

[6] Edwin Webb; John B. Duncan (1990). Blitz Over Britain. Spellmount. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-946771-89-9.

[7] Julitta Rydlewska; Barbara Braid (18 September 2014). Unity in Diversity, Volume 1: Cultural Paradigm and Personal Identity. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-4438-6729-0.

[8] "Thomas Evan Nicholas 1879-1971" (PDF). National Library of Wales. Retrieved 6 September 2019.

[9] "Plaza Cinema, Talbot Road, Port Talbot". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 2017-06-14.

[10] Stephen Bourne (30 November 2001). Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television Second Edition. A&C Black. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-8264-5539-0.

[11] British Broadcasting Corporation (1944). BBC Handbook. p. 50.

[12] "Literature Wales: Encyclopedia - Broadcasting". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-01-05.

[13] "Brian D. Josephson Biographical". The Nobel Prize. Retrieved 9 April 2019.

[14] "Leighton Rees". The Telegraph. 10 June 2003. Retrieved 9 April 2019.

[15] Julia Longland (1 October 1978). Clear round!: Interviews. Mayflower Books. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-8317-0012-6.

[16] Eggar, Robin. Tom Jones – The Biography. p. 14.

[17] John Dawes rugby profile ESPN Scrum.com

[18] June Emerson (7 November 2022). "Atarah Ben-Tovim obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 August 2023.

[19] In Bala, Gwynedd. Screen International Film and TV Year Book. Screen International, King Publications Limited. 1990. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-900925-21-4.

[20] "Daniel Sperber". Bar-Ilan University. Retrieved 8 August 2023.

[21] Donald Evans (16 December 1991). Rhydwen Williams. University of Wales Press. p. 83.

[22] Edgar William Jones. "Edwards, William (1851-1940), H.M. inspector of schools". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 9 November 2019.

[23] Edward Morgan Humphreys. "Lewis, Sir Alfred (Edward) (1868-1940), banker". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 9 November 2019.

[causalty-24] "Hugh Hesketh Hughes". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 11 April 2011. Regiment/Service: Welsh Guards Date of Death: 23/05/1940 Service No: 103800 Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

[25] ‘BOWEN, Sir George Bevan’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 30 Nov 2013

[26] Obituaries (Obituaries) The Times Friday, Jul 05, 1940; pg. 7; Issue 48660; col E

[27] David Williams. "Thomas, Sir Daniel Lleufer (1863-1940), stipendiary magistrate". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 9 November 2019.

[28] Lawrence Normand (1 September 2003). W.H. Davies. Seren. p. 152. ISBN 978-1-85411-261-3.

[29] David Thomas. "Jones, Robert Thomas (1874-1940), Labour leader". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 9 November 2019.